No. 5. 



Upland Cranberries. — Longevity of Trees. 



143 



those pursuits which they are resolved upon. 

 But the fact is, we all idle away, or waste in 

 frivolous amusements, more time than would 

 be requisite to fit us for the performance of 

 our several duties. We are very prone to 

 mistake the real nature of our wants. It is 

 not so much to the wunt of lime, as to the 

 want of inclination, and of a proper sense 

 of our responsibilities, that we should attri- 

 bute our failure to possess the accomplish- 

 ments which justly pertain to our profession, 

 and station in society. It is this want — this 

 neglect of the more elevated attainments, 

 and this lack of a just perception of the 

 beautiful — which has, hitherto, been most 

 striking and conspicuous among the agricul- 

 turists of our country. While our farmers 

 have generally attended, faithfully and suc- 

 cessfully, to what is familiarly and truly de- 

 nominated "the main chance," it must be 

 confessed that too many among them have 

 exhibited a lamentable want of tact and skill 

 in planning and improving, or in availing 

 themselves of natural advantages in the ar- 

 rangement of their rural establishments. 



Ne.xt in importance to successful culture, 

 and a correct knowledge of the objects and 

 principles involved in the process, is the at- 

 tainment known as good taste, or that refined 

 sense of the beautiesof nature, which knows 

 how to appropriate her charms, in the em- 

 bellishment of farm houses, or cottages; and 

 to invest them with that witchery and grace 

 which should ever be associated with a coun- 

 try residence. No person, who has enjoyed 

 the delights of a tasteful rustic dwelling, 

 embossed among venerable trees, and re- 

 posing amid the verdure of flower-spangled 

 lawns, can fail to be shocked at the contrast 

 of a rude vulgar looking tenement, awk- 

 wardly stuck in some open weed-grown 

 space, without a shade-tree, or an enclosure, 

 to protect it from the rays of a burning sun, 

 or the annoying approaches of the trampling 

 cattle : and yet the difference may be en- 

 tirely owing to the exercise of a cultivated 

 taste in the one case, and a total destitution 

 of it in the other. Fruit trees, and shade 

 trees, should be regarded as indispensable 

 appendages of every human residence. If 

 duly attended to, the former will amply 

 gratify the palate, while the latter will also 

 minister to our enjoyment, directly, by the 

 refreshing shelter afforded to ourselves, and 

 indirectly, by attracting to their branches 

 the lovely serenaders of the feathered race. 

 How delightful in a tree-embowered cottage, 

 to be roused from our slumbers by the gush- 

 ing melodies, which, in such abodes, ever 

 greet the dawn of a summer morning! By 

 providing a shady retreat for the little war- 

 blers, and protecting them from the weapons 



of reckless sportsmen, we not only secure 

 their punctual attendance, with the grateful 

 tribute of their vocal strains, on each return- 

 ing spring; but we are rewarded, tenfold, 

 for all such benevolent offices, by the indus- 

 try with which the welcome visitors labour 

 to rid us of annoying and destructive in- 

 sects. It should, therefore, be the business 

 and the pleasure of the intelligent farmer, 

 wherever located, thus to improve and adorn 

 his premises. In a region so rich in native 

 attractions, as our own favoured county of 

 Chester, it should be the study and ambition 

 of every occupant of her soil, to develop all 

 her agricultural resources, to acquire for 

 himself the knowledge and scientific skill 

 which rightfully belong to his profession, 

 and by the exercise of a refined taste, to 

 make our ancient bailiwick as eminent for 

 the beauty of her country seats, as she has 

 long been for the neatness and fertility of 

 her cultivated fields. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Upland Cranberries. 



We have so often written upon the sub- 

 ject of Upland Cranberries, as to be almost 

 ashamed of saying anything more; but at 

 the risk of being considered as having but 

 one idea, will give some facts from the cul- 

 ture of our friend, Mr. Gardner, of Mass., 

 of this year. In writing to me lately, he 

 says, " My swamp cranberry vines were 

 much injured by a late frost in June. An 

 early frost in the fall completed the destruc- 

 tion of fruit for this season. My upland 

 plants bore a full crop, having escaped both 

 the spring and fall frosts." 



B. G. BOSWELL. 



Philad., Dec. 9th, 1847. 



Longevity of Trees.— Trees are natu- 

 rally very long lived, and grow to a vast 

 size. In Britain, there are still extant and 

 growing, oaks, and probably elms, which 

 were planted before the Conquest, t. e., more 

 than 800 years ago. And there are yew 

 trees much older still. There are some at 

 Fountain Abbey, near Ripon, in Yorkshire, 

 which are believed to be more than 1200 

 years old ; two in the church-yard in Crow- 

 hurst in Surrey, 1450 years— one at Fortin- 

 gall in Perthshire, 2500 to 2600 years ; one 

 in Brabourn church-yard in Kent, is said to 

 have attained the age of 3000 years: and 

 another at Hedsor in Bucks county, which 

 is in full vigor, and measures above 27 feet 

 in diameter — appears to be upwards of 3200 

 years old. 



